Commercial lighting fixtures commonly use fluorescent lamps or incandescent lamps to give off light for illumination. These lighting fixtures have the common drawbacks of high power consumption, quick light attenuation, short service life, fragility, and the inability to be reclaimed. Light emitting diodes, hereinafter LEDs, may be used to replace fluorescent or incandescent bulbs to obtain the environmental and economic benefits of LED technology. However, LEDs are directional, and when used with existing light fixtures, they do not necessarily provide the illumination where it is needed.
Standard light tubes are mounted in a light fixture by sliding connector pins into end sockets and then turning the tube 90° so that the pins engage electrical contacts in the sockets. The lamp tube emits light omni-directionally and its orientation in the sockets is of no consequence, making orientation of pin connectors on different models of fixtures inconsequential. However, LEDs emit light generally at a narrowly-angled conical path. An LED lighting tube retrofitted into the existing light fixture may not be oriented to emit light in the desired direction as the angular presentation of the light to the surface to be illuminated can be offset by the variation of the pin connectors.